U.S. Rep. Pete
Visclosky, D-1st, vice-chair of the Congressional Steel Caucus, has joined
Chair Tim Murphy in leading 153 other lawmakers to urge the U.S. Department
of Commerce to hold Korea accountable for illegally dumping oil and gas
drill pipe onto the American market.

In a letter sent
last week to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, the lawmakers urge the
Administration to reverse a February 2014 decision permitting Korea to
continue dumping unfairly-traded “oil country tubular goods” (OCTG) onto the
U.S. market. “The dumping has led to shift cutbacks at plants in Kentucky
and the indefinite closure of U.S. Steel plants in McKeesport, Pennsylvania
and Bellville, Texas,” according to the letter.

The U.S. market was
one of the few bright spots for the domestic steel industry due to the
growth in shale gas exploration and OCTG accounts for approximately ten
percent of domestic steel production and nearly 8,000 jobs, Visclosky’s
office said. “However, foreign OCTG has doubled since 2008. Steel pipe and
tube from Korea, which does not even have a domestic market for OCTG, has
increased by 1,000 percent in the past four years.”

“This is a pivotal
time for the American steelworkers, as foreign competitors are stopping at
nothing to flood our markets with cheap steel,” Visclosky said. “We must do
more to enforce our trade laws, defend American manufacturing, and protect
the thousands of steelworker jobs in Northwest Indiana.”

“The Administration
must enforce the law and put an end to Korean trade crimes that are costing
American workers their jobs,” Murphy added. “Since August, the Congressional
Steel Caucus has sounded the alarm in hearings, in letters, and at rallies
with workers. I hope the Administration will finally wake up and see the
damage to our economy caused by Korean trade crimes.”

The Steel Caucus
began this battle in August 2013, when the Caucus sent a letter calling on
the International Trade Commission to open an investigation into Korean
trade practices.